Burning apparatus for plant beds



April 9 1951 L. K. REISTER BURNING APPARATUS FOR PLANT BEDS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 18, 1948 INVENTOR.

Lucas K. Reister April 10, 1951 L. K. REISTER BURNING APPARATUS FOR PLANT BEDS v3 v3 vu Lucas K. Refs/er m EN TOR.

April 10, 1951 L. K. REISTER BURNING APPARATUS FOR PLANT BEDS 4 Sheejas-Sheet 5 Filed May 18, 1948 I I r April 10, 1951 L. K. REISTER 2,548,065

' BURNING APPARATUS FOR PLANT BEDS Filed May 18, 1948 '4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Lucas K. Reister JNVENTOR.

BY 5mm MNW,

Patented Apr. 10, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BURNING APPARATUS FOR PLANT BEDS Lucas K. Reister, Lexington, Ky. Application May 18, 1948, Serial No. 27,622

Claims. 1

This invention relates 'to'new and useful improvements and structural refinements in apparatus for burning plant beds such as beds for tobacco plants, and the like, and the principal object'of the invention is to thoroughly and effectively destroy weeds, underground roots, etc. such as would interfere with or otherwise hinder proper growth of the plants.

This object is achieved by the provision of the instant apparatus wherein a plow-shaped foot breaks the soil, a jet of flame is directed into the furrow broken by the foot and finally, an evenerfollows the nozzle from which the jet of flame is thrown and covers or levels off the furrow, thereby completing the operation.

An important advantage of the invention resides in the fact that the plant bed to be burnt is broken in the form-of a furrow, thus enabling the jet of flame to reach and effectively destroy weeds, etc. disposed under the ground.

A primary feature ofthe invention resides in the provision of what may be referred to as a bottomless oven under which the ground breaking foot and the burner nozzle are located, which oven effectively prevents the heat from the flame from dissipating. into the atmosphere and assures that weeds on the ground surface as well as below the ground surface are effectively destroyed. r 7

An additional feature of the. invention resides in its ability to employ a plurality of ground breaking feet, a plurality of burner nozzles and a plurality of ground eveners, all in association With a common oven, whereby the operating capacity of the invention is substantially enhanced.

A still further feature of the invention lies in the provision of self-contained means for generating a combustible fuel mixture and delivering the same to the various burner nozzles, said means constituting a component part of the apparatus itself. 1

An additional feature of the invention resides in its mobility, the entire apparatus assuming the form of a wagon associated with a trailer, matters being so arranged that the wagon as well as the trailer may readily travel along the plant bed as well as along a highway while being transported from one site of operation to, an-

other. I 7

Another important advantage of the invention lies in its simplicity of construction and operation and its adaptability to economical manufacture.

With the above more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: 7

Figure 1 is a top plan View of the invention. Figure 2 is a side elevational view thereof. Figure 3 is a rear elevational view of the trailer portion of the invention, showing the same partially broken away.

I Figure 4 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 4-4 in Figure 1. Figure 5 is a cross sectional view partially broken away, taken substantially in the plane of the line 5-5 in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 6-6 in Fig ure 1. a

Figure 7 is a cross sectional view partially broken away, taken substantially in the plane of the line 1-1 in Figure 2. Y j

Figure .8 is a cross sectional view, taken sub stantially in the plane'cf the line 8-8 in Figure '7.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the trailer used in the invention.

Figure '10 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line ill-l0 in Figure 1. Y

Figure 11 is a cross sectional view, taken sub stantially in the plane of the line Hl i in Figure 4.

Figure 12 is an elevational view of a burner nozzle used in the invention, and

Figure 13 is an exploded perspective view some of the components of the burner nozzle.

Like characters of reference are emp oyed to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention consists of a burning apparatus for plant beds designated generally by the reference character 20, the same including in its construction two maior units or sub-assemblies, namely, a wagon 22 and a trailer 24.

The wagon 22 is constructed from a pair of side members 26 and a plurality of suitable cross members 28, the side members 26 being arcuated at their forward end portions to terminate in a pointed nose, which, in turn, is equipped with a rubber-tired caster unit 3!]. This caster unit includes a substantially upright shaft 32 which is rotatable in a cylindrical standard 34, the latter being secured in a block 36 provided at the for-- ward end of the side members 26, as will be clearly understood.

A rigid axle 38, carrying a pair of rubber-tired wheels 40, is suspended by means of suitable leaf springs 42 and shackles 44, 46 from the rear end portions of the side members 26, and the wagon 22 is provided at the rear end thereof with a vertically extending tow bar 48 formed with a row of apertures 50.

The aforementioned trailer 24 assumes the form of what may be referred to as a bottomless oven 52, the same including in its construction a top wall 54, a pair of spaced parallel side walls 56, a downwardly and rearwardly extending front wall 58 and a downwardly and rearwardly extending rear wall 60. mediate portions 62 of the side walls 56 are rigidly secured by welding or in any other suitable manner to the top wall 54, but forward and rear portions 64, 66 respectively of the side walls are hingedly connected, as indicated at 68. By virtue of this hinged connection, the portions 64, 66 of the side walls 56 may be swung outwardly and upwardly for the purpose of cooling the interior of the oven. Moreover, ventilating doors I6, hinged as at I2, may be provided on the portions 64, 66 of the side walls 56, whereby opening of the doors will obviate the necessity of opening the entire portions 54, 66 when the oven is to be cooled.

It is to be noted that the top, side, front and rear walls of the oven are of insulated construction, each wall having inner and outer layers of metallic material indicated at I4, I6 respectively, together with a packing of insulating material such as asbestos I8, or the like, interposed between the layers I4, I6, as is exemplified in the upper left-hand corner of Figure 4. This form of insulated construction is, of course, typical to the wall structure of the oven as a whole.

The oven portion 52 of the trailer 24 is provided with a forwardly extending yoke 86 equipped at its forward end with a coupling pin 82, the latter being selectively receivable in the apertures 50 of the aforementioned bar 48 of the wagon 22.

It may be stated at this point that the trailer 24, is equipped with a pair of retractable wheels 84 which are rotatable on downwardly offset stub shafts 86 of a tubular axle 88, the latter being rotatable in a set of aligned bearings 96 provided on the top wall 54 of the oven 52. As is best shown in Figure 9, the axle 88 carries a pair of spur gears 92 meshing with relatively small pinions 94, the latter being rotatably mounted on the side walls 56 of the oven 52 and being equipped with'suitable hand-cranks 96.

The pinions 94 actually assume the form of ratchets with which are engageable suitable pawls 98 pivoted as at I to the body of the oven 52. It will be apparent from the foregoing that by simply rotating the hand-cranks 96, the wheels 84 may be lowered or raised as desired, the arrangement of the pawls 98 and ratchets 94 being such that the pawls, while engaging the ratchets, will effectively retain the wheels either in the raised or lowered position.

The forward lower end portions or corners I62 of. theside walls 56 of the oven are normally intended to ride along the ground, which is ef fected either by raising or lowering the wheels 84 as necessary, or by adjusting the position of the'yoke 80 with respect to the bar 48, that is, by inserting the coupling pins 82 in the various apertures 50 of the bar 48, as will be clearly understood.

It is to be noted that inter-' III It is to be noted that an obliquely disposed extension plate I04 is hinged as at I06 to the lower edge of the front wall 58 of the oven, while a further extension plate I08 is hinged as at IIO to the lower edge of the oven rear wall 60. These plates I04, I08 normally engage the surface II2 of the ground, but are readily defiectable in an upward direction, upon coming in contact with an obstruction, such as indicated at H4.

The essence of novelty in the invention resides in the provision of a transversely extending row of soil breaking feet H6 in the oven 52, these feet being secured to suitable arms or limbs II8 which are pivoted as at I20 to the rear wall of the oven. Moreover, the feet I I6 are swingably adjustable, being retained in a predetermined position by means of pawls I22 engaging toothed quadrants I24, the former (pawls) being pivoted to the arms I I8 and the latter (quadrants) being secured to the wall of the oven, as will be readily apparent. The feet I I6, of course, are intended to penetrate into the ground so as to form a furrow I26 when the trailer 24 travels along the plant bed, the depth of the furrow being governed by the setting of the arms II8 with respect to the quadrants I24. It should be also noted that inasmuch as a plurality of the feet I I6 are provided in a transversely extending row, a plurality of furrows will be formed in the ground while the apparatus travels along the plant bed.

A plurality of burner nozzles designated generally by the reference character I28 are mounted in a transverse row upon the rear wall 68 of the oven 52, these nozzles being of conventional construction and including a ioraminous jacket I30 carrying an adapter I32 which, in turn, is mounted upon the end portion of a compressed air tube I34. (See Figures 4, l2 and 13.) The tubes I34 contain relatively small fuel tubes I36 which extend through the adapters I32 and are provided with fuel nozzles proper I38 equipped with tips I40. This form of nozzle construction is, as aforesaid, of conventional type, but it should be noted that the nozzles I28 are directed forwardly and downwardly, so that the jets of flame I42 (see Figure l) are thrown into the furrows I2 6 broken by the feet H6. A transversely extending heat deflector plate I44 is provided between the nozzles I48 and the feet I I6, thereby preventing th latter from sustaining damage from the heat of the flames.

A transversely extending row of ground eveners, assuming the form of sets of resilient fingers I46 are mounted on the lower edge portion of the oven wall 60, the purpose of these eveners being, of course, to level the soil after the furrows I26 have been formed by'the feet I6 and burnt by the nozzles I28, the eveners I46 being adjustable as to depth by virtue of adjustable mountings I48 with which they are provided.

The flow of compressed air and fuel through the tubes I34, I36 respectively is regulated for each of the nozzles I28 by means of suitable valves I50, I52 respectively, the valves I50, I52 being, in

' turn, connected by suitable conduits I54, I56 respectively (see Figure 4) to a transversely extending manifold assembly I58 mounted by means of suitable brackets I68 upon the oven 52.

This manifold assembly includes a compressed air tube I62 and. a fuel tube I64, the conduits or risers I54 being connected to the former and the conduits or risers I56 communicating with the latter, as will be clearly apparent.

The aforementioned wagon 22 carries self-contained means for generating a gaseous combustible fuel mixture for the burner nozzles I28, these means including a small internal combustion engine IfiS which receives its supply of fuel from a fuel tank I68 through the medium of a fuel line lI0, the engine 565 having a drive pulley T2 con nected by a belt drive 14 to a flywheel 11% of an air compressor H8. The outlet of this air compressor is connected by a pipe I80 to a compressed air tank I82 and also by means of a connection N34 to a liquid fuel tank it's. The compressed air tank N32 is provided with an outlet connection I 88 for general utilitarian purposes such as pump ing tires, etc.

The connection I84 feeding a supply of compressed air is also in communication by means of a flexible conduit I90 with the compressed air tube I52 of the manifold I58, a shut-off valve !92 being provided between the compressor H8 and the tank ISG, and a further valve I94 being provided between the tank I86 and the manifold tube I62, for obvious reasons.

Moreover, the fuel tank I80 is connected by means of a flexible conduit 59% to the fuel tube i'et of the manifold I58, a suitabl shut-off valve I98 being provided on the conduit 98, adjacent the aforementioned valve I94. A convenient support 200 is mounted on the top wall 54 of the oven 52 for the purpose of supporting the flexible conduits I90, I86 as will be clearly apparent.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that by properly regulating the valves I24, I98, a combustible fuel mixture of correct proportions may be delivered through the medium of the manifold I58 to the various nozzles I28, so that the plant bed burning operation may be effected along the aforementioned lines.

Means are provided for moving the entire apparatus along the plant bed while the burning operation is in progress, said means assuming the form of a winch 202 rotatably mounted in suitable brackets 204 extending downwardly from the framework of the wagon 22. Rotation of this winch is effected through the medium of suitable reduction gearing 206 actuated by a hand-crank 208, the winch 202 being intended for winding of a cable 220 thereon, substantially as shown.

A suitable stake 2I2 is inserted in the ground at the end of the plant bed, the cable 2I0 being passed around a pulley 2 I4 with which the stake 2I2 is provided, and the end of the cable being secured to an eye 2 I6 provided on the aforementioned block 36 with which the front end of the wagon 22 is equipped. Accordingly, it will be found that by simply rotating the crank handle 208, the entire apparatus including the wagon 22 and the trailer 24 will be drawn along the plant bed at any suitable rate of speed, while the plant bed burning operation is being effected.

It is believed that the advantages and use of r the invention will be clearly apparent from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary. I

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A burning apparatus for plant beds, comprising a wagon, a wheel-supported bottomless oven drawn by said wagon, said oven including side walls and a downwardly and rearwardly extending rear wall, a transverse row of adjustable soil breaking feet provided in said oven, a transversely extending manifold mounted on said oven, a plurality of burner nozzles mounted on said rear wall and directed to throw jets of flame into furrows broken by the respective feet,-tubes connecting said nozzles to said manifold, a transverse row of ground eveners carried by said rear wall, a motor-driven air compressor and a liquid fuel tank mounted on said wagon, and conduits connecting said tank to said manifold and said compressor to said manifold and to said tank.

2. A burning apparatus for plant beds, comprising a wagon, a bottomless oven drawn by said wagon, retractable Wheels on said oven, said oven having heat insulated wall construction and including a pair of side walls, and downwardly and rearwardly extending front and rear walls. a transverse row of adjustable soil breaking feet provided in said oven, a plurality of burner nozzles mounted on said rear wall and directed to throw a jet of flame into a furrow broken by the respective feet, a transverse row of ground eveners carried by said rear wall,'a transverse manifold mounted on said oven and including an air tube and fuel tube both separately connected to each of said nozzles, a motor-driven air compressor and a fuel tank carried by said wagon, and conduits connecting said tank to said fuel tube and said compressor to said air tube and to said tank.

3. The device as defined in claim 2 together with means including a manually rotatable winch on said wagon for propelling the same along the ground.

4. The device as defined in claim 2 together with ventilating doors provided on said oven.

5. The device as defined in claim 2 together with a transverse heat deflector provided in said oven between said nozzles and said feet.

LUCAS K. REISTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 610,612 Setter Sept. 13, 1898 992,140 Anderberg May 16, 1911 1,458,070 Long June 5, 1923 1,509,340 Corson Sept. 23, 1924 1,571,481 Kasmeier Feb. 2, 1926 1,649,550 Servoss Nov. 15, 1927 1,696,856 Moran Dec. 25, 1928 2,190,175 Roche Feb. 13, 1940 2,364,862 McLary Dec. 12, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 113,860 Great Britain Mar. 14, 1918 

